Gear Up Girl cycling event returns to the shire

Put your heart into it: The Gear Up Girl all-female cycling event is organised by Bicycle NSW and the Heart Foundation to raise awareness of heart disease which is the biggest killer of women in Australia.

The annual Gear Up Girl 2018 female-only recreational cycling event is returning to Sutherland Shire on March 11.

Gear Up Girl is organised by Bicycle NSW in conjunction with the Heart Foundation to raise awareness of heart disease which is the biggest killer of women in Australia.

The event coincides with International Women’s Day (Thursday, March 8), encouraging women to team together to improve their health.

Around 1300 cyclists are expected to take part with participants having a choice of 20km, 40km, 60km or 80km cycle routes.

The event commences at 6.50am at Bicentennial Park, Sydney Olympic Park, and enters Sutherland Shire via Taren Point Road before splitting into two groups with some finishing at Don Lucas Reserve, Wanda and the rest continuing to Kurnell before also returning to finish at Don Lucas Reserve.

For this year's event it is proposed to utilise a temporary partial road closure of Bate Bay Road, Sanderson Street and Mitchell Road in Sutherland Shire from 8.30am to 2pm.

“Heart disease kills three times as many Australian women as breast cancer,” a Heart Foundation spokeswoman said.

“It's a shocking statistic but Heart Foundation Gear Up Girl is here to change that. We’re all about getting women back on bikes and cycling to a healthier heart on Sunday March 11.

“Often women are preoccupied with their family’s well-being over their own, so were telling them to look after their own heart health too.

“With only 26 per cent of all bike riders in NSW being female, it’s time for a change. We strongly encourage all women to ride with us to kick start their mission in looking after their heart health, in Australia’s largest female community bike ride.”